The present invention relates to means and methods for stimulating, facilitating and inducing the usage of the pedal extremities and/or arms of the human body, basically for purposes of rehabilitation and/or improvement of their function and to encourage and enable greater mobility for the physically impaired. It also provides means for an exercise of the body and/or its limbs contributing to the rehabilitation of its cardio-pulmonary system. Embodiments of this invention are particularly significant in that in use thereof the foregoing objectives or any one or combination thereof can be achieved, as and to the extent required, without excessive exertion on the part of the person using the same. A supplemental and important achievement in the use of the invention embodiments is a contribution to a sense of well being. At the same time certain embodiments of the invention afford a physically and mentally beneficial mode of both recreational and utility transportation. The invention is therefore multi-faceted as to the problems with which it deals and the solutions and benefits which it offers.
The present invention provides an area and manner of treatment of physically and/or mentally handicapped persons which has not, to the inventors knowledge, been previously envisioned on the level or in the context herein set forth. This treatment not only affords an excellent potential for use in rehabilitating limbs and the cardio-pulmonary system, without exceeding medically prescribed stress limitations, but it also inherently provides a relatively safe, exhilarating source of stimulus for instigating mental and physical effort on the part of patients requiring the same for recovery. This is particularly important where the patients have limb disabilities and there can be no hope for their recovery unless they can be induced to take that first step towards use of the limb or limbs in question in spite of a particularly negative attitude. The present invention is uniquely applicable in such case since it can be approached under conditions where there is virtually no stress.
The particular embodiments of the invention herein shown and described are only by way of example and not by way of limitation, either as to the form of their construction or the manner and nature of their application and/or usage.
The inventor is not aware of any prior publication which is specifically pertinent to the points of novelty of the present invention, which are directed to the improvement and the conditioning of the body and its parts as well as the mental uplift of human beings in general, particularly those having difficulty in using their limbs, or any part thereof, or an apparent inability or very limited ability to do so in any respect.
As far as can be determined, the following U.S. Letters Patent well represent the general state of the prior art:
U.S. Pat Nos. 219,439, Blend; 326,247, Root; 604,200, Vogeler; 1,507,554, Cooper; 2,327,671, Rupprecht; 3,336,046, Seiling; 3,488,088, Goldbert et al; 3,621,819, Hooper; 3,759,511, Zinkin et al; 3,877,421, Brown.
While each of the noted patents suggest to some degree an element of a cycle or support structure, they fail both singly and in combination to provide a concept or construction which per se would anticipate or render obvious the present invention. Most significantly, none of the prior patents reveal the dynamics or the therapeutic construction subject of the present invention.